manuellynch
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Posts posted by manuellynch
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And I am going to start posting new and good places to go for eating/out for drinks etc when people are in Las Vegas. So much to see in this town other than the strip.
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I've gotten a few PM's in the last couple of months with suggestions to make a few changes on this board.
But to the visitors and other members, I'm curious on what changes you would like to see made to this board to get information that is helpful to you. Be it visual or content.
I'd love to get suggestions by replies or by PM.
Thought I'd throw this out there.
The header graphic - like we discussed the other day.
A section on the home page where people can vent their personal life info and get some inputs from people around the world. I like hearing about your wife's special needs kids in school, and I would like to hear more about interesting places people have been on vacation or work - similar to YYZ posts on China neon signs. So not sure how you could do this but creating a WATER COOLER or COFFEE MACHINE area where people just shoot the shit.
I also need to get some good jokes.
AND - a requirement that people MUST post at least 2 times within the first week they are on the board as a new member - or they get booted. The people (yes, including all the of Permlight employees) who logon with a fake alias and then just watch shouldnt be on a board that is trying to foster communication and learning.
And Erik - you have to have a section on TECHNIQUES - share with people how to buy a truck so cheap!!!!
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1mg in a neon tube???? Seriously doubt that--------
gn
It was a compact fluorescent bulb - only 13 watts.
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In short, "neon sign" mercury lamps need at least 50 mg of Hg, and usually get two to three times that. Claims that less can be used are in dispute, as long-term mercury is consumed or sequestered. IMO there are going to be a lot of Eurocom Hg+ electroded tubes that will be quite dim in the future as this takes place.
The problem with the sign industry low pressure mercury tube is that there is absolutely no effort made to optimize Hg vapor pressure. At 30 mA magnetic, my data shows that 9mm is optimal, with efficacy decreasing as diameter rises. OF course there is a lot more to it than that, factors like ambient temp and gas composition and pressure also play key roles to be certain.
I am seriously considering eliminating 15mm as an option for mercury tubes. Maybe even 13mm....
But what I wonder about is, the true measure (from an environmental standpoint) should be mg of Hg/watt, right?
I think that is a great idea - I wonder if UL has a means of putting together a way of measuring this for companies so you can certify the amount. The guy that you and I met with at the show said his bulb had 1mg. WHo verifies this?
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I heard you were going to be there, but I attended Wednesday only. I went straight to Vegas after a marathon week in China and skipped going back Thursday. I had a morning meeting regarding a local project and then took off for the Hoover Dam... I liked my rental car so much that I just kept driving. There are some nice straightaways along that very scenic stretch of highway ;)
What did you think of the show?
I thought the show was nothing special. I heard you were there from a booth you stopped by...PowerBox.
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Some, but smaller installs like outlining an entrance, etc... The bigger animated stuff was all glass. The LED stuff was primarily tube type fixtures (like CK's Accent) that allowed for color change or animation. The stripes on that curved hotel building were 1' addressable RGB fixtures, and the lights outlining the skyscraper are addressable White tubes that have chase scenes up all 80 stories. Also, the shot where the Blue light was washing back on the building was also LED.
I don't think there was more than other recent Lightfair shows. Last year in New York there may have been more. I had a couple of people in there to talk to, but when they separate them into a "China Pavilion" it allows many people to simply avoid them if they want to use top tier products only.
Almost amusing to walk a show in China and see a section for USA COMPANIES...so people can avoid them if they only want to use bottom tier products...hahaha
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So I just got back from a week in China and my opinion remains the same. The factories there can be hit-and-miss, as you have to have confidence in who you are dealing with - that you will get consistency and quality over the long term - but they continue to do more for less. I spent time in 5 cities in 3 provinces and saw no signs of what we westerners would consider "communism". It's as capitalist as any place I've seen here, including private health insurance, toll roads, home based businesses - the whole bit.
Also - I'll be starting a new thread once I get my pictures and video clips saved - primarily from Shanghai where the neon signs are pretty spectacular. Some of you tube guys will enjoy the photos.
Did you see any of the signs in Shanghai China moving to the Sloan, GE or iLight "type" LED replacement tubingvfor neon?
Also - appeared to be a growing section of Chinese vendors at LightFair in Las Vegas this past week - but not a lot of traffic at the show.
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Try the Floridian push to use only Amber lighting in hotels by the water. Makes it confusing for luminaire manufacturers who are trying to make brighter whites to be given a request to focus now on Amber.
Florida code restrictions are odd.
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GM announced it is closing 4 truck plants and possibly discontinuing the Hummer brand http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/business...ml?ref=business
Would like to know if people in the automotive sign making business are seeing a slow down...in some markets it just keeps growing...odd.
How about banking merger signage opportunities...anyone seeing this grow? It would be mixed because of large writeoffs due to mortgage fiasco.
Looking for end market feedback on where people are seeing growth and slumps.
We are seeing a lot of people just interested in saving a buck or two.
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So I just got back from a week in China and my opinion remains the same. The factories there can be hit-and-miss, as you have to have confidence in who you are dealing with - that you will get consistency and quality over the long term - but they continue to do more for less. I spent time in 5 cities in 3 provinces and saw no signs of what we westerners would consider "communism". It's as capitalist as any place I've seen here, including private health insurance, toll roads, home based businesses - the whole bit.
Also - I'll be starting a new thread once I get my pictures and video clips saved - primarily from Shanghai where the neon signs are pretty spectacular. Some of you tube guys will enjoy the photos.
So what you are saying for those in neon world looking for work is to go take classes in Chinese and move to China???
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He's not with you yet?
Tell him I'd rather light my house up with LED's
From my understanding CCFL's have trace amounts of merc that are under the standards of what a cfl has.
I think these can go directly in the trash, or the classification of universal waste on these babies is different. Correct me if I'm wrong
I am stopping by the EPA today to ask that exact question. But yes, CCFL has about 1/2 the mercury of CFL. I want to know what neon has comparitively.
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ccfl is the only alternative I'd light my house up other than incandescents
Ahh yes, much higher CRI, dimmable, and longer lifetime. I will tell Garret today when we are at LightFair - he will like that.
But - what about the mercury levels????
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A letter "c" --------------
Seriously-------CCFL is a cold cathode fluroescent lamp.
CFL is a compact fluroescent lamp.
Cold Cathode Fluorescent uses much higher voltage and lower current to excite the mercury amalgam. CFL or Compact Fluorescent is also known as Hot Cathode Fluorescent. Higher current that "heats" the cathodes along with lower voltage is used to excite the mercury amalgam. CFL usually has rated lifetimes of 8-10K hours. CCFL typically has lifetime of 25-50K hours.
I think of CCFL has an extremely energy efficient neon in that voltages are higher than CFL (usually about 1700V to strike or start lamp).
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Without any shame, YES!
.....it's makes me feel more manly to perform such a feat
Manly???
To have another man hold you by your feet, spread eagle, from behind????
Ok Erik.
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The amount of mercury in products seems to be something customers are oddly "consumed" with these days.
If we were to take a 4 foot long tube of white neon vs same length T8 fluorescent vs same length CCFL...what is the mercury loading difference?
Would like some first hand experience/knowledge and a discussion on this.
And PLEASE - no discussion of LED on this thread.
Personally I am much more interested how CCFL and neon can sometimes be misunderstood versus fluorescent.
And as we have all agreed on several previous threads - every light source has a sweet spot/or best application.
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Don't forget the latest craze, text messaging. That would add 3 more way. One to each of his cell phones.
And then the old fashion way - ring the door bell.
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Had a conversation with some friends over the weekend about how ineffective communication is today at times and how many ways we have to get a hold of someone. The winner in our pack had 18 ways to get a hold of him:
1) Office phone
2) Personal Mobile phone
3) Work mobile phone
4) Home phone
5) personal email
6) work email
7) secret yahoo email
8) another gmail account
9) an eFAX account
10) a fax machine
11) a SKYPE Instant Message account
12) a Yahoo Instant Message account
13) a user membership on a business message board
14) a user membership on an adult message board
15) a user membership on a sport message board
16) you could mail him at his office
17) you could mail him at his home
18) you could mail him to his personal PO box
And what we laughed about is that you can never reach the guy.
So are all these communication portals making it easier to get a hold of people or making it easier for us to hide from contact?
Would like to hear if anyone has over 18 ways to get a hold of them - I thought this was crazy. I had 8 ways.
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We wanted to get some input from people on this board on an issue.
Axiom today has an active program of notifying over 2000 people that sign up for our SMS Text notify program about new deals, upcoming products, and tricks/tips on how to cut cost. It is free - sign up at: http://www.axiompowercorp.com/tt/
Here is the input we wanted to get:
1) Is email becoming like snail mail of old and promotional advertisements and offers sent by email are overlooked or ignored?
2) Does old fashion snail mail product information get buried in the stacks on your desk and not ever seen?
3) Do people still read sign magazines to learn about new products?
And then
4) Do you think it effective to receive text messages once a month from a service that gave you a quick snap shot of new products, tricks/tips, etc?
What if we got the Sign Syndicate news snapshots via SMS text message?
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We suppose we have a very odd perspective on UL. We see them as tremendous value. In fact just yesterday a company that makes decorative lighting for a restaurant chain said that his customer was pushing him to get each fixture UL listed and it would cost him a fortune. I suggested him to contact Jim Richards at UL and get some alternative means of meeting his customer's needs. He did and he did get a way to cut cost dramatically.
We have found that you just have to figure out how to use the increase in fees to the best of your ability.
Had a discussion with them yesterday and together with a National Home Builder we came up with a way of reducing our manufacturing cost yet another 30-40%.
Just our approach - but then again some ex-Permlight employee may jump on the board under an anonymous alias and blast me again.
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Erik - the rage for venture capitalists and companies interested in acquiring other companies are organizations that rely on viral marketing systems in the form of forums and message boards as you have created here.
Me and several others are a huge fan of your site and will support you in any way to keep this moving and growing.
I would also suggest in the Premium section that Department of Energy reports could be available. These are reports that are not to be used by companies for marketing/sales purposes but contain tons of information about certain vendor products. The DOE just completed an analysis of one of AXIOM's product and included in the report is that our product "is the benchmark for others to try and meet"
You could have a section in the Premium section that not only makes people pay for access to the service but furthermore has rules that they can be terminated and banned from the section for sharing information posted there to other boards, etc.
If interesed Erik I can send you extensive information on Viral Marketing systems that eventually do make money and are growing faster than anyone expected.
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There are 2 concerns that have been expressed. I deal with the technical side of things, so I can only provide limited information on what is going on.
Equipment and calibration -
Product safety has become a global issue. This involves the need for third party testing labs to be internationally and nationally accredited. Accredition is important because without it, the mark of a third party testing lab such as UL is not acceptted. UL has always been accredited, but with the number of labs worldwide, more equipment documentation and calibration is being required to make sure that the results of testing and measuring are correct. Therefore, UL is being required to calibrate regularly all test equipment used to determine compliance. The requirement for equipment calibration is across the board for all industries.
UL made it easier for the sign industry by allowing in-shop testing and measuring, versus sending the signs in to UL for testing. However, with this convenience comes the need for the sign industry to maintain the equipment they use for testing and measuring. Accreditation is not on a spot basis such that UL can say to the accreditors, the sign industry is not as global so they do not need to comply. The requirement is to make sure the that test equipment is accurate andnot an unreliable knock off piece of equipment.
The cost increase is as I understand it to cover the expense for Field Sevices staff to be trained and to spend more time at the sign shop. Many of you probably have seen that Field Services is spending more time in your facillities. The extra time is for the purpose of stopping what some manufacturers who are cutting corners selling Listing Marks and other activities that make it more difficult fo the sign industry as a whole to be cost competitive from shop to shop. In the future, UL is also looking to providing better sign shop staff training. As noted above, I was not involved with the decision for the cost increases. I am sure there are number of reasons behind this across the board increase that has not been shared with me. What other industry do you know of makes house calls for only $188 or even $400.
Here in Las Vegas there are a lot interesting house calls that can be arranged for the numbers you mentioned...hahaha.
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We did an analysis and found that with the new UL charges to do site surveys and periodic reviews of manufacturing plants in China was climbing dramatically. We found that building products in the USA would be ultimately lower cost if you factor these costs in.
In a conversation with Jim Richards from UL recently he explained a lot of the above - I asked him to post a detailed reply to all on this subject.
FYI - cost to UL Recognize a power supply device has gone up almost 200% as well. Very high.
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Did anyone ever get the real scoop of why the costs went up....over half quarterly?
Because they could???
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totally agree with you...on some products it makes sense.
Just as you see on this board on a regular basis - right light for the application - right supplier for right product.
Small Letters
in General Message Board
Posted
Axiom has developed a line of letters that it is considering introducing and I wanted to see if these type of small letters (6" and 12" high, 1/2" to 1" thick) are of interest.
We have not finalized pricing yet but it would be about 1/2 of what you have seen before.
Would like some feedback on interest, issues with other brands you have had, and what you would like to see.